Legal Dispute Over Marilyn Monroe’s Last Photo
A legal conflict has emerged regarding the last photograph of Marilyn Monroe after a well-known auction house shared it online, reportedly generating nearly $1 million from what is alleged to be a stolen negative.
Bert Stern’s renowned photo shoot with Monroe, conducted just six weeks before her death on August 4, 1962, is famously referred to as “The Last Sitting.” This session featured an iconic image of Monroe reclining in bed, draped in white sheets with a glass of wine.
The heirs of Stern, who passed away in June 2013 at age 83, maintain that officially licensed prints from this series can fetch thousands of dollars on the market.
However, last year, the family business was allegedly devastated when Heritage Auctions promoted an auction involving photographic negatives, leaking numerous images onto the internet.
Shana Stern, Bert’s widow, has accused the Dallas-based auction house of recreating the photo shoot experience by utilizing a 274-page catalog showcasing 1,363 out of 2,571 copyrighted photos.
In the lawsuit filed in a Manhattan federal court, she stated, “Heritage’s intention was to sell and distribute the infringing catalog to over 2,000 clients, essentially replacing the original copyrighted material, including posting high-resolution images on Heritage’s website.”
On December 8, Heritage reportedly sold the negatives to an undisclosed buyer for over $900,000, despite Shana’s warning that they lacked authorization, as claimed in the copyright infringement suit.
Additionally, Mr. Stern has initiated his own legal action against Heritage in December at Manhattan Supreme Court concerning the same negative sale. That case is ongoing.
Recent court filings indicate that more than 1,000 individuals have bid on the negative film, with some now listed on eBay.
Bert Stern’s work featuring the 36-year-old Hollywood icon was collected into two books: “The Last Sitting,” published in 1982, and “The Complete Last Sitting” in January 2000.
Shana is pursuing $150,000 in damages for “at least” 1,527 images, plus a court mandate that would require Heritage to disclose the buyers and their earnings from the catalog sales.
Heritage Auctions has denied any wrongdoing. In their statement, the company asserted, “We honor the copyright rights of artists, and we did so in this case.” They further explained that film negatives, along with prints made from them, are typically bought and sold without transferring the original author’s copyright, claiming that such sales do not amount to copyright infringement.
